August: 1987: Against the backdrop of the nuclear ships stand-off with America, the rich and powerful gather in Auckland for a lavish election night party. Before the night is out, a seventeen-year-old girl will be murdered and several lives utterly changed.

Now: Beset with relationship difficulties and reeling from the shocking revelation that his father might not have died from natural causes, Detective Sergeant Tito Ihaka revisits the case that has haunted his boss Finbar McGrail for twenty-seven years. As old conspiracies unravel, old hatreds reignite and old scores are settled, an implacable Ihaka sets outto bring the guilty to account.